Giants, Patriots game has playoff atmosphere at bar

Sunday

Dec 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMDec 30, 2007 at 4:24 AM

Saturday night's Giants/Patriots matchup was not a playoff game, and it had no effect on either team's playoff destiny. But you couldn't tell that by the patrons at Dick Smith's bar in West Utica, where the rowdy crowd was physically divided on each side of the bar depending on for which team they were rooting.

Jessica Ryen Doyle

Saturday night's New York Giants-New England Patriots match up was not a playoff game, and it had no effect on either team's playoff destiny.

But you couldn't tell that by the patrons at Dick Smith's bar in West Utica, where the rowdy crowd was physically divided on each side of the bar depending which team they were rooting for.

Owner Bob Seward wanted the Patriots to win.

“It's another historic event,” he said of the Patriots possibly going undefeated. “As a Boston fan, the Red Sox won, and the Patriots will be 16-0. The Celtics are doing well. It's a good sports year.”

Seward's prediction came true as New England won 38-35.

Brian White, 30, of Utica, was decked out in Patriots gear, wearing a hat and a Brady jersey.

“I've been watching them a long time,” he said. “I'd like to see the Patriots make history; I wasn't around to see the Dolphins do it.”

The Miami Dolphins went undefeated in 1972, winning the Super Bowl.

O-D reporter Jessica Doyle spent the first half of the game talking to fans at Dick Smith's. Here are some excerpts from her online blog, which can also be found at uticaod.com/sports:

8:01 p.m.: My knowledge of football extends to the fact that a touchdown is worth 6 points and the extra kick is worth one.

I told my editor that I have kept up to date with Tom Brady's Hollywood love life, but that doesn't seem to be too important in the grand scheme of things.

8:50 p.m.: On one small TV screen is a hockey game, which is the real reason Utica resident Rich Baye is here.

However, he does want the Giants to win, simply because Seward doesn't, he says.
"I want to see him break something," he says with a smile.

9 p.m.: The Patriots score a touchdown.

Dropkick Murphys' “I'm Shippin' Off to Boston,” the theme song from "The Departed," blares from the jukebox.

I feel like I'm on the hunt for Jack Nicholson, alongside Leo DiCaprio - who by the way is the ex-boyfriend of Brady's current girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen.

Lou Wendt, 47, originally from Central New York, who is visiting from Rhode Island says he is “very excited” about the touchdown. He jumps up from his bar stool, clapping and cheering.

9:15 p.m.: I thought there was an interception, but apparently the Giants passed the ball to the tight end.

Please, let me say for the record, I'm not completely sports-challenged. Put me in a Syracuse University jersey at the Carrier Dome during a basketball game and I can hold my own.

9:21 p.m.: How did he miss that? The Patriots almost made a touchdown, but the ball bounced off the helmet of a Giants player. The Patriots fans throw their hands up in disgust.

10:20 p.m.: I have to say, watching the game this way gave me a whole new perspective. Maybe I'll buy a football jersey.